Most small to medium business owners are very busy people. Running a business takes 110% effort, especially in the first few years. As a result, many of our customers ask, “Is it really that important that I be on social media?” Well, why don’t you be the judge…
- There are currently 1.3 Billion Facebook users, and 48% of them sign onto their Facebook account every day
- Facebook usage increased 22% from 2012 to 2013
- The average Facebook user has 130 friends – That means if you have 300 people following your business page on Facebook, they can put you in touch with 39,000 potential new clients (many times without spending a dime)
- Every 20 minutes on Facebook: 1 million links are shared, 2 million friends are requested, and 3 million messages are sent. That’s a busy market place – “Location, Location, Location”.
- Google Plus, which was launched in June of 2011 has grown to over 500 million users and is now the second largest social medial platform in the world.
- There are 350 million active daily users on Google Plus – 70% of Google Plus users are active on a daily basis.
- 625,000 join Google Plus every single day.
- At this pace, Google Plus is poised to be the #1 social media platform within the next 2 years.
- The Google +1 button is used 5 billion times each day, and websites using the +1 button generate over 3 times more visits than sites without the button.
- What about Twitter? There are 1 Billion Tweets sent every 48 hours
- A “fake tweet” in 2013 claimed Obama had been injured in a White House explosion. The result? $130 Billion were wiped off the stock market within minutes.
- Twitter has been used to predict outbreaks of the flu in major metropolitan areas. Tweets relating to symptoms were used to accurately identify outbreaks over 80% of the time in 2013.
- And the new kid on the block: Pinterest has 85 million unique visitors every month
- Pinterest was the fastest social network to hit the 10 million visitor mark Pinterest is now the 3rd most popular social network (behind Facebook and Google Plus)
- Shoppers referred to a site from Pinterest are 10% more likely to buy and spend on average 70% more than other visitors
- A client of ours, a small town Ocala photographer, has had one of her photos ‘pinned’ over 20,000 times on Pinterest in the 6 months following its post – her cost: $0.
Social Marketing Potential
Social Media Marketing has the potential (when used properly) to drive a substantial number of potential customers to your website. Social media is without question the busiest marketplace of potential clients who are engaged and tuning in on a regular basis.